Distortions
by Obssesed Nuker
Summary: The Curse of Balal may have been broken, but five millenia of history cannot be undone so easily. And as the Symphogear Adaptor's prepare to move on into the next stage of their lives in the new world of tomorrow they thought they have created, they suddenly become aware that history may be stalking them from the shadows.
1. Chapter 1: Our World of Tomorrow

**Distortions**

**Chapter 1:**

**Our World of Tomorrow**

* * *

"Is this true? Is all of this really true?"

His guest just gave a simple nod. For what seemed like the longest time of his life, he could do nothing but sit there and gaze into his tea and listen to the raging blizzard outside. He had been briefed on the Shem-Ha Incident of course. Between it being such an enormous global crisis and being a person slated to take the sort of position he was, it was only natural that he be briefed. He had even worked with his people to cooperate with the Americans and Japanese in their plan to try and lock out Yggdrasil from the global computer networks.

Reflecting on it now, the briefing hadn't honestly told him that much. In hindsight, "Ancient alien precursor goddess tried to hijack humanity's collective consciousness to mutilate the world and was stopped by that UN Symphogear organization SONG" did raise more questions than it answered. The most obvious being "why was there an alien precursor goddess trying to mutilate the world?"

Well, now he had an answer to that question. And it churned his gut. The evidence he had was indisputable. He found himself coming back again and again to that moment when Shem-Ha briefly connected humanity and the raw fear he felt, not just from himself but from so many others about what would happen to them, to their friends, family, and loved one. To their legacy. And to their future. The whole of human civilization, all of its achievements and accomplishments, all of it's potential… almost wiped out because of some _idiot _"gods" who couldn't let mankind be for their own selfish reasons? Worse, their foolishness meant this wasn't even the first time mankind hovered on the edge of repeated disaster over the past two years. If not for SONGs harnessing of the Symphogears capability, the whole of their accomplishments would have been naught but dust on the wind multiple times over by now.

Yet fundamentally, it was the same technology, and who was to say the Symphogears would always be on the side of saving mankind? Indeed if the information he had in front of him was correct, one of them had for awhile been bent on subjugating the world. That was only one step away from destroying it. Who's to say it couldn't happen again?

Finally, he looked up. "How should we begin?"

* * *

_"-it's free, it's beautiful, but under no circumstances should you look at it. And our top story in international news: the UN has been forced to suspend it's military missions following the withdrawal of all member states forces to their operations. All the countries withdrawing their forces have consistently stated this is in response to the pattern of disappearances among military units deployed on these missions over the past three months and their wish not to lose any more personnel to whatever phenomenon is causing it. While the consensus among political experts is that they do not expect the suspension of peacekeeping operations to cause any new conflicts given recent trends in improving global relations, they may contribute to the reignition of pre-existing conflicts that the operations had previously stabilized but not yet resolved. In other international news, the ongoing talks between the foreign ministry and China over disputed islands are into their third day and so far the discussions have been described as positive-"_

Commander Genjuro Kazanari clicked the news program off as he glanced over to his assistant. "So, nothing at all?"

Shinji Ogawa simply shook his head. "Nothing. At least not in the UN or JSDF, that's for certain. From what I could gather from my contacts in intelligence, the Americans and Europeans are equally as clueless. And everybody else, as far as they could tell. There are no signs of fighting, no reports of discontent, no signs of activity, supernatural or otherwise. There is simply nothing. Best everyone could tell, the units just went out on patrol… and promptly vanished into thin air."

"Doesn't that pretty much mean it has to be supernatural?" Aoi Tomosato asked. "We're up too several battalions, almost a regiment's worth by this point, in a single month. Military units have been known to disappear in war zones, but not with such frequency."

"Unofficially, I agree with you." Genjuro replied. "Officially, however, no evidence means we can't act and there is simply no evidence. That's what I was told when I submitted an inquiry with the UN Security Council. It's concerning, but we can't do much more than keep an eye on it."

"I don't think it's supernatural." Elfnein didn't even look up from the notes she was reviewing. "Or if it is, nothing supernatural we have encountered before. I've reviewed the evidence Ogawa retrieved from the UN. There is absolutely nothing that is consistent with all the knowledge we have amassed about heretical technology. Noise, Alchemists, the Custodians, even unknown Symphogear Adaptors… they all would have left some indication of their presence behind. Here, there is just nothing."

"Well, I certainly hope you're right." Fujitaka muttered from his station, "Everything's been going great otherwise. Even if it has been almost twice as long as usual."

'_Well of course,_' Genjuro though, '_With Shem-Ha defeated, who else is left?_' Four months have passed since the Custodian were defeated and by every metric, things were going spectacularly. And Genjuro didn't just mean that in a personal sense either. The news had been right: things were getting better worldwide. Even the Americans were acting calmer and more thoughtfully in international affairs, to the point that one would scarcely believe that almost a year prior they had attempted an abortive nuclear strike on Japan.

"Should we alert the girls about it?" Shinji's voice broke Genjuro out of his reflection.

He shook his head. "It hasn't affected us yet and with the UN military missions ending, it might cease altogether. Until we have more information, we shouldn't trouble them with it. As Fujitaka said, things are going great. Let them enjoy these peaceful times when they can."

* * *

_"So, you want to kill that which kills the gods? Sounds like quite the challenge. Sign me up…"_

* * *

"Here Hibiki! Say _aaaahn_…" Miku Kohinata held out a spoon filled with ice cream.

"_Aaaahn_…" Hibiki Tachibana opened her mouth, accepting her girlfriends offering.

"Gag me." Chris Yukine groused from her spot across the table from the pair.

"You could switch with us." Maria offered from just across the diner aisle.

"Nah." Chris jammed a thumb towards Shirabe and Kirika, the latter of whom was desperately trying to convince the former to do what Miku just did, sitting across from Maria and Tsubasa. "Then I'd have to watch _those _two lovebirds also do things they really should be saving for their rooms. It'd be a bunch of effort for the same exact outcome."

"Well I think it's sweet." Maria simply took another sip of… whatever it was she had ordered. Tea, Chris supposed.

'_Yeah, well… so is stuff that gives you cavities._' Chris thought. In truth, she was happy that Hibiki and Miku had made their status official. The two had always been so close and the memory of the sheer pain Hibiki had been in when she thought she had lost Miku still managed to rattle her. Plus, Hibiki's expression when she found out that all her friends thought she and Miku had always been an actual couple had been hilarious. And probably made up for Chris's own expression when she found out that Hibiki and Miku _hadn't _always been an actual couple, or at least Chris hoped so.

"Besides, Yukine..." Tsubasa had an uncharacteristically sly smile that suddenly had Chris wary. "I **_do _**recall you talking quite fondly about a certain Komichi Ayano recently."

There was silence for a moment as a bright red blush worked its way up Chris's face. "Tsubasa!"

Unfortunately for her, it was then that the implications of Tsubasa's statement registered with Kirika and Hibiki, enormous grins breaking out across their faces.

"Eh?! Chris-chan/senpai's found someone?! We're so happy for you!" And Chris immediately found herself in battle on two fronts as each lunged to hug the white haired girl from their respective spots across the table and aisle.

"Agh! Hey! It's not like that! Come on! Oof!" Then with an almighty shove she managed to knock both of the two back away from her; Hibiki back into her seat, and Kirika into the aisle, "I SAID KNOCK IT OFF ALREADY!"

"Wah! Shirabe, Chris hurt me!" Kirika cried before rapidly climbing back into her seat, hoping to leverage the momentary discomfort into some attention from her own partner.

"There, there Kiri-chan." And possibly, intentionally, Shirabe fell for it, turning and pulling Kirika into a hug. "I'm sure Chris was just upset that you weren't her own girlfriend."

"Oh, give me a break." Chris muttered, before noticing Hibiki still watching her with a grin and glittering eyes. "Uh… what?"

"Well, come on! Tell us! What's she like? Have you gone on any dates yet? Have you kissed? How about making o-"

"Hibiki!" Miku cut her partner off with a blush bright enough for both of them. "That's too personal!"

"Yeah!" Chris's own blush was if anything even more luminescent, "Besides, like I said: we ain't like that!" She paused, furrowing her brows as she thought and her blush faded. "At least… I don't think so. We met after the spring semester started with a shared class. We were decent enough friends back at Lydian and it's been good to see her, but the most we've done is get the occasional cup of tea and talked." Wistfully, she smiled. "It's been nice."

Hibiki gave a knowing giggle and Chris's smile vanished to be replaced by a warning glare.

"Does she know?" Maria asked next, holding up Airgetlamh.

"No." Chris shifted uneasily. "Not a whole lot of Lydian's students got a good look at me back at Kadingir, so only a couple know and the ones who did are all under the usual NDA's. There's a bunch more students who know about Hibiki or Kazanari."

"Oh yeah, almost all of our identities are secret." Shirabe mused absently, "You know, it's surprising how effective those NDA's have been."

Hibiki's reaction, on the other hand, was much less laid back. "That's no good Chris! You shouldn't hide such important things from someone you care so much about. I did that and..." She glanced over at Miku, who smiled reassuringly as took her girlfriend's hand and gave it a squeeze. Hibiki returned the smile before she turned back to Chris. "... it almost didn't end well."

"I know, I know! It's just…" Unwilling to meet Hibiki's eyes, Chris instead looked out the window, choosing to watch an advertisement board promoting some sort of new anti-aging treatment instead. "For one thing, how do I even bring that up?" She injected a false cheer into her voice. "Oh, hey Komichi, I'm one of the Symphogears. Ya know, the ones who have saved the world multiple times over? Well, except that one time I wanted to take it over. But, hey, that's in the past. It's all cool with you, right?" The fake-cheer dropped, "It feels like it… would just be so out of the blue to drop on her."

"That seems like it would be more an issue of framing than anything else." Miku said. "I mean, you do talk with her on a regular basis, right?"

"Well, that's the other thing." The ad began to loop so Chris instead switched to watching the raindrops create patterns on the windowsill. "All we've done is talk. And have coffee. Or tea. Whichever." Finally she turned back to the others. "And besides, it isn't as if any of the Symphogear-stuff has gotten in the way, like it was with you and Hibiki. Since Shem-Ha, all we've had is training and that's easy to plan around."

"Well perhaps you should take the opportunity to do more than just talk." Maria gave a meaningful glance over at Tsubasa, "And I think we have just such an opportunity."

Everybody looked at Tsubasa expectantly, but the swordswoman simply looked back at Maria with uncertainty. As it became apparent she wasn't about to continue, Maria reached out, took Tsubasa's hand, and squeezed. "It's okay, we talked about this. Remember? Even Ogawa approved of this plan."

Tsubasa closed her eyes, and nodded. She visibly summoned up her inner-strength and opened her eyes again. "Maria and I… We're having another joint concert."

"Oh." Kirika head tilted in slight confusion. "Is that all?"

"Kiri-chan." Shirabe chided, "You do remember what happened last time, right?"

"Oh yeah, there was…" Kirika trailed off, "Oh…"

"So you're worried someone's gonna try to trash your concert again?" Chris thought back over every past concert between Maria and Tsubasa. "It… Is a bit of an unfortunate pattern isn't it?"

Tsubasa cringed at those words, but Maria quickly clapped her hands together to take the lead. "So! Just to cover against these sort of… Eventualities, Tsubasa, Ogawa, and I all agreed it would be best if everyone was there." She turned back to Tsubasa and nodded to her encouragingly.

Tsubasa gave a slight smile back before taking hold of her purse. "So, the ideal official procedure in these circumstances." She popped it open and lifted out a sextet of identical slips of paper, holding them up for everyone to see. "Backstage passes, all access. Let's everyone get ahead of the crowd when it comes to checking in and unlimited access to the entirety of the venue. Just don't get in the crews way."

"Really?!" Kirika shot forward, grabbing two of the passes in a flash and looking them over. "They are! Yes, you're the best senpai!"

Tsubasa blushed lightly at the praise as the remaining quartet of tickets were passed across the aisle to the other table before being divided evenly between each side.

"Wait a minute." Chris noted, holding up the two she had been given. "There's six passes. Excluding you and Maria, there's five of us. Why am I getting two passes?"

"Didn't I say it earlier?" Maria winked at Chris, "Take this as an opportunity to bring Ayano along. A concert's romantic enough, isn't it?"

Chris scowled as her blush returned. "I told you guys, it isn't like that."

She still pocketed both passes though.

* * *

_"My god! This is practically a work of art! I get to work with stuff like this? Of course I'll join. Let me just get my things. You won't believe how _boring _this previous work has been..."_

* * *

"This isn't going to work." Tsubasa's tone was matter-of-fact, projecting no uncertainty.

Maria rolled her eyes, not even looking up from the magazine. "Tsubasa, please. You've been saying that for the past several hours. Normally I'm the one who has to cover her pre-concert jitters with an air of confidence."

"But I mean it!" Tsubasa whirled around from the mirror, "They haven't shown up yet, so who knows-"

"It's been _minutes_ since the agreed upon arrival time." Maria interrupted. "That isn't enough time to make it from the parking lot to here."

Tsubasa sighed and sank down into her chair. For several more seconds, there was silence in the dressing rooms. Finally Tsubasa spoke up again, "I had the dream again last night… but..."

This time Maria brought her attention up from the magazine, "But?"

"It wasn't just _that _concert. There was also the one in London. And the first time we met. And…" Tsubasa hesitated again for one long moment, "... and the one where… Kanade… they kinda all got mixed together. Millaarc kept switching with the Autoscorer. And the girl kept switching with Kanade… and you."

Tsubasa had shrunk in on herself to the point that Maria immediately abandoned the magazine, stood up, and went over to her fellow idol. Wrapping Tsubasa in a hug, she murmured into her ear. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here. There's no more Noise, no more alchemists, no more Custodians, and the UN has granted SONG a lock on everything left related to the Relics. There's no force left on Earth that could take this from us."

Sighing, Tsubasa leaned back into the hug, regaining her strength from Maria's presence. Tsubasa didn't quite know for sure if what they had between them could be defined the same as what she had with Kanade. Or what was between Miku and Hibiki or Kirika and Shirabe. Perhaps some time in the near future there would be a talk for clarification, but for now she was willing to be satisfied with hoping it was and taking strength from it.

A knock at the door drew their attention and Maria, with only a little reluctance, detached herself. "That must be them."

The door swung open and the first one through was the ever-excitable Kirika. "Maria, Tsubasa! Everyone's here!"

They all came in, chatting and laughing. Maria smiled as Tsubasa seemed to regain her remaining strength just from the presence of her friends. As she scanned the group, her eyes alighted on a new face, hovering next to and ever so slightly behind Chris. Green eyes, brunette hair down to the back with a yellow headband. Despite being slightly taller than Chris, the girl's presence actually seemed smaller as she seemed to be infected with the usual nervousness of someone amid a largely unfamiliar crowd.

Tsubasa had the same idea the moment before Maria and hence managed to beat the latter to the punch. "You must be Komichi Ayano! Yukine has told us about you."

"Oh, y-yes!" Komichi almost fell over herself bowing. "It's a pleasure to meet you! Kazanari, Maria-sama! Yukine has told me quite a lot about the both of you."

_'Sama?'_ Maria quirked an eyebrow at the honorific and how it seemed to be absent for Tsubasa, but decided to let it slide for the moment. "Oh? Mostly good things, I hope."

"Only about some of us." Hibiki grumbled, "From the way Komichi talked in the car, Chris doesn't say very nice things about me."

"Oh, I wouldn't know about that, Tachibana." Komichi smiled towards Chris, "She always has this fond smile when she mentions any of you, regardless of what she's saying."

"Komichi!" Chris turned towards her friend at that.

"Oh, that's nothing." Hibiki's grin became down mischievous. "You should have seen the dopey smile on her face when we told her you were the next to pick up."\

Now Chris turned on Hibiki and if her face had been only slightly red at Komichi's comment, it was positively on fire now. "DOPEY?! Why you-come here!"

"Ah, no Chris…" Hibiki tried to rapidly back away from the advancing light-haired girl, but with eight people all stuck in the prep room she didn't have far to back-up before running into the wall. As Chris made the final lunge, Hibiki ducked aside and took cover behind her girlfriend. "Miku, save me!"

Chris began to turn again towards Miku, or more specifically Hibiki-cowering-behind-Miku, only to stop short as a smiling Komichi walked over and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Chris, I'm sure she meant it in the best way possible."

Chris simply stared at her friend for a moment, her anger melting away into momentary confusion followed by a light blush and a bashful glance down at her shoes. "If you say so…"

"Wow, Ayano." Kirika's voice was tinged with awe. "I've never seen anyone calm Chris down so fast!"

"Oh, I'm sure it's nothing about me. Chris is an amazing person, after all."

Her friend's praise only caused Chris to blush even harder. _'Oh god, I'm going to be permanently red in the face by the end of tonight.'_

"Well, certainly any friend of Chris is a friend of ours!" Tsubasa cut in, feeling as if Chris had received enough embarrassment tonight. "Would you like an autograph? Something to show off to your other friends?"

"Really?! An autograph from Kazanari?!" Komichi's eyes were positively sparkling.

"Not just from Tsubasa!" Maria smiled at the girl's enthusiasm, grabbing a pen. "I'll sign one for you too."

To everyone's surprise Komichi's excitement seemed to evaporate in seconds, replaced by an uneasy bashfulness. "Oh… I can't… not from Maria-sama."

Everyone exchanged puzzled glances. Finally, Miku spoke up, "Are you not a fan or-"

"No, no!" Komichi waved her hands frantically, "It's really… more the opposite. It's just… Maria-sama isn't just an idol. She's also the only confirmed Symphogear, one of the heroes who has saved the world several times over." Abruptly, she turned towards Tsubasa. "Not that you aren't also incredible, Kazanari! But…" She glanced down. "It's just… Maria-sama feels like she's on a whole different level. For an ordinary girl like me to get an autograph from someone like her just isn't right."

For a moment, no one said anything. Maria opened her mouth for a moment, thinking she could wave Komiji's concerns off with a "it's fine" but then she shut it again. Such a reply… just didn't feel adequate in the face of Komichi's objections. How was she supposed to address an argument based on such an inadequacy from someone she hardly knew?

Suddenly, Maria had a very good suspicion there was another reason Chris hadn't told Komiji about the whole Symphogear thing.

No sooner had that thought occurred to Maria then did Chris speak up. "The hell it is."

"Eh?" Komiji blinked in confusion at the statement.

"I said the hell it is!" Chris repeated louder, grabbing the brunette's hand. "Remember back when I first joined Lydian? When you, Yuki, and Otome had to basically chase me around the school to get me to perform that song at the school fair? I remember you were the one who pushed me the most to do it. And I'm glad you did! You were the biggest part of what let me grow to enjoy my life at Lydian, not just go through the motions. So like hell you aren't good enough for one of Maria's autographs!"

"Chris…" Komichi muttered in surprise and awe.

Abruptly, Chris seemed to realize that all eyes in the room were on her. Trying to tamp down on her blush and recover her posture, she dropped Komichi's hand and placed her own hands on her hips imperiously. "Just don't put yourself down. It makes me feel bad!"

Komichi thoughtfully looked between Chris, Tsubasa, and Maria a few times before finally she smiled and brought out a notebook from her bag. "Well, if it's for Chris. I guess I'll have one of Maria-sama's autographs after all."

Internally, Maria cheered as she signed the offered notebook, making sure to add the little message _Take care of Chris for us_ underneath. Sure, Komichi was still being more formal with the honorifics then she had hoped but progress was progress! It looks like Chris was better at this then she liked to admit. Or, more probably, she indeed liked Komichi more than she endlessly professed otherwise. Maria was definitely putting her money on the latter eventuality.

"Tsubasa, Maria." Shinji Ogawa stuck his head through the door, "You two best be getting changed now. We don't have long until the concert begins."

"I suppose we should give you two space to change." Miku commented as she took Hibiki by the arm and began to usher her towards the door.

Tsubasa didn't say anything for a moment, instead shifting from one foot to another.

Hibiki apparently noticed, as she paused for a moment against letting her girlfriend's gentle guidance "Don't worry one bit Tsubasa. We're all here!"

"After all, what's the worst that could happen?" Kirika cheered happily.

The entire room went dead silent as everyone stared at her incredulously. On their behalf, Shirabe raised a fist and gently clonked her girlfriend over the back of the head. "Dummy. Don't jinx it."

* * *

_"They lied to me. THEY LIED TO ME! More than a decade of service. A half-dozen tours of duty. The FUCKING Noise! And this is how they repay me?! How they repay Emily?! Fuck them. They'll pay, they'll all pay! I'm in."_

* * *

"See? I didn't jinx it! It went great!"

"Tempting fate is still an awful thing to do Kiri-chan." Shirabe replied.

Kirika groaned and threw her hands in the air. "Well what was I supposed to say instead?"

"I believe that when wishing someone in show business good luck your supposed to say something like 'break a leg'." Miku pointed out.

"Besides, it isn't quite over yet." Tsubasa said. "Remember London?"

Komichi blinked. "What happened in London? That concert seemed to go well."

There was an awkward pause for a few moments before Tsubasa opted for an incomplete truth. "Ah, we can't exactly share all the details but suffice to say Maria had to fight off an attacker backstage while leaving. Feelings from the Frontier Incident were still relatively raw, after all."

Komichi's mouth formed into a small "oh" of understanding and the conversation ended momentarily. The concert proper had indeed gone just swimmingly, with Maria and Tsubasa able to sing not just all the songs that they couldn't get too last time but were also able to sing a couple of new songs that had been drafted in the interim. Tsubasa was relieved that the most dangerous part was out of the way.

Still, as the group of eight walked back to Maria's and Tsubasa's dressing room, there didn't seem to be even the slightest sign of any sort of threat. The only other people to be seen were venue workers doing their after-show jobs.

Finally, Hibiki turned her head to look at the newest member of the group. "So, Ayano, how did you like the concert?"

"It was fun!" Komichi pumped her fist in response. "I've only ever seen these on TV, but the energy of the real thing is so much different!" Then she paused as a thought occurred to her. "Although, I'll admit, seeing the work that goes into some of the special effects did take a bit of the magic out of it."

"You felt that too, huh?" Chris murmured.

"Well it's not like we got to see the secret behind all the special effects." Komichi quickly added. "Like that bit where you two were leaping over the surface of the water! How did you do that?!"

Maria turned, smiled, and placed a single mischievous index finger over her lips. "Trade secret."

Well, it was easier than explaining that was an actual ninja technique which they had been trained in by an actual ninja.

As if the thought alone had summoned him, Shinji appeared from down a side hall and fell in alongside Tsubasa. "Fantastic job out there you two! Are you feeling better now Tsubasa?"

"I must admit… yes." The swordswoman replied. "I guess Kirika was right in the end, our bad luck streak on these concerts have been broken."

"See? Even Tsubasa agree with me!" The blonde said.

"You still shouldn't say stuff that might jinx people." Shirabe quickly responded.

"Well," Shinji said as they arrived at the dressing room. "Why don't you two take a shower and get changed and then we can take everyone out for dinner."

"Dinner?!" Komiji's eyes widened. "With Kohinata **_and _**Maria-sama? So soon after the concert? I don't-"

"Hey!" Chris cut her off. "You are hungry right? Then really there's no problem. Come on, Maria is still a girl like you or me."

Komichi looked like she wanted to continue to object, but Chris's gaze hardened into a stubborn glare that everyone, Komichi included, seemed to recognize and finally she nodded her assent.

_'Well, one step at a time, I suppose._' Maria thought as she followed Tsubasa into the dressing room. Before she started stripping off her clothing though, Maria noticed that there was something on the safe she had placed her personal effects in. Something that most certainly had not been there when she had left the dressing room. A lone envelope.

A momentary panic overtook her as she worried that someone might have broken into the safe but a quick examination of the contents showed that nothing Maria had placed in there was missing, most importantly the pendant she kept of her sister. Taking up the envelope, a quick examination showed no names or markings on the outside. She opened the envelope to find nothing but a solitary slip of paper. And when she read what was on the paper, a shiver ran down her spine in spite of everything.

"Maria?" Tsubasa, for her part had already finished undressing and only now noticed that Maria had paused. "What is it?"

"Ah!" Maria quickly folded the paper so Tsubasa couldn't see the message. "Just some well wishes. Apparently a staff member is a fan."

"Oh." Tsubasa blinked, "Is that really all?"

"Yes!" Cursing Tsubasa's ability to be unusually perceptive at times, Maria lied hastily. "He gets a bit over dramatic in a way that's slightly embarrassing, but that's all! I'll be a long in a moment."

Accepting the explanation, Tsubasa nodded and turned for the showers. Sighing in relief, Maria resolved that Shinji had to be told about this as soon as she could get a moment alone with him. She gave one last look at the lone english sentence written on the paper before hastily stuffing it back in the envelope.

_All SONGs must end._

Maybe Kirika had jinxed them after all.

* * *

_"... Yes, yes. This is all an affront to God. And if God has granted me the power and opportunity to correct it, then why should I not exercise His will? I'll join."_

* * *

"I reviewed the security footage." Shinji said as he sat back down into the driver's seat.

"And?" It was several hours later, well into the night. Everyone had been returned home but Maria had insisted that she be the last to be dropped off so she could discuss the letter with Shinji. The ninja had taken one look at the letter and immediately drove both of them back to the venue.

"Nothing. Between you and Tsubasa leaving for the concert and returning, not a single soul entered or exited the dressing room." There had been a dedicated security camera trained on the door as a precaution against rabid fans. The exclusivity meant it had been easy for Shinji to find the relevant footage. "It remained closed and locked throughout the entire concert."

Maria frowned. "Ogawa, I _know _that letter was not there when we left."

"And I believe you." Shinji took the letter out again and gave it another look, as if that would provide him with some additional clue. "But the only other way into the room would be through the air ducts, but those are too small for any human being to fit through and all the covers were still in place when I checked."

"You inspected the room?"

"Thoroughly. Just in case this was another alchemist, we know that some of them can teleport after all." Shinji shook his head, "Nothing, again. The janitorial staff already cleaned the room and they didn't report finding any of the shards of the alchemists used to carry their teleport mixtures. Unfortunately, it also means they would have inadvertently covered up the potential signs of anyone else being there. Or anything."

Maria cocked her head. "Anything?"

"The only remaining possibility that I can think of." Shinji leaned back and shut his eyes in frustration. "Someone trained a small animal to slip through the air ducts and grates."

Maria raised an eyebrow. "So someone trained a mouse or something just to send a threat?"

"Makes more sense then the letter appearing out of thin air."

Well, Shinji had her there. Maria looked down again at the slip of paper. "Do you think you can figure anything out from the message?"

"It looks machine-typed, so a handwriting comparison is out. And we've both touched it, so fingerprints would be useless." Shinji sighed. "All we can know for sure is that someone is threatening us."

"All SONGs must end." Maria repeated the message to herself quietly. Then she added. "Please don't tell Tsubasa where we found this."

"Because of the concert, right?" Shinji gave a sharp glance. "Do you really think that just this would devastate her or something?"

"No." Maria replied instantly. "Tsubasa is not remotely that fragile. Or fragile at all, really. But it would mar it, even if slightly, in her mind. And I don't want that. I want the perfect concert for her. That's what it was until I found the letter after all."

Shinji looked down the letter one more time. "Okay. I have to report this to the commander, but I'm sure he'll agree with that request."

"Thank y-" Maria interrupted herself with a tremendous yawn. "Oh… I'm sorry."

Shinji shrugged it off with a polite smile and started the cars engine. "It's late and you had a big concert. Let's get you home."

* * *

_"This is more than a century's old by now and my family doesn't intend for it to last for a millenia. My only condition is that you guarantee that the last one will die by my hand."_

* * *

"Bikky, Bikky! Take a look at this!"

Hibiki turned at the familiar voice only for her view to be almost completely blocked by splotches of indistinct coloring. She jerked back in surprise and almost barely avoided prematurely swallowing the egg roll she had been chewing on.

"Yumi." Miku cut in. "I don't think Hibiki can read whatever is in that magazine if you've shoved it that close to her face."

"Ah! Oops. Sorry." The splotches of color pulled back to cohere into recognizable shapes and revealed Yumi Itaba standing before Hibiki. Plopping into the seat next to Hibiki, she set the magazine down between them, next to Hibiki's tray packed to the brim. "I just saw this and knew it would be perfect for you!"

Twisting her head and leaning over from her spot across the Lydian cafeteria table to get a better look, Miku read the title of the ad aloud. "New NERV Headset System From Laodicea Electronics Industries. Approved for Japanese Release. A radical new breakthrough in Virtual Reality." Dropping back down, she looked up at Yumi skeptically. "And why does Hibiki need a VR set?"

Yumi grinned. "Awww, Hina. Your not reading the fine print! Listen to this." Making a show of clearing her throat, she began. "The NERV Headset takes advantage of recent breakthroughs in human-machine neural technology to provide much more than a simple visual and auditory experience. It actively uses such cutting edge hardware and software to interface with the mind and assist in its development. Repeated scientific studies and statistical reports have found that, regardless of any other variables, users of NERV System have an easier time learning new skills when using the related NERV System programs. This makes the NERV Headset System perfect not just for entertainment and physical activities, but for educational and mental ones as well."

Hibiki tilted and scratched her head in confusion. "So… umm… that means?"

"The ad purports that the headset can help you study better and do better on tests." Miku's voice still hadn't lost her skepticism.

"EH?! Really?! Hibiki head went from Yumi to Miku and back, her eyes widening as they processed that statement. "Wow… I had no idea that technology had advanced so far."

"I know, right?" Yumi nodded eagerly. "When I first read it, I thought it sounded exactly like something out of an anime. Anyway, I remembered how your always worried about passing the next test and I thought this could be a great boost for you."

"Yumi!" Shiori Terashima called out as she approached, lunch tray in hand, with Kuriyo Ando trailing slightly behind. "Are you bugging Bikky and Hina about that headset thing?"

"She's been going on about it all morning." Kuriyo added. "And towards the end she seemed to get in her head that it'd be perfect for you, Bikky. Although really, I think she just wants one for herself."

"Those aren't mutually exclusive." Miku observed. "Although I'd have to do more research before I'm convinced this is as good as it sounds. There's buying good luck charms at a shrine, then there's this sort of thing."

Shiori nodded. "That's what I thought. Those kinds of headsets may not exactly be as expensive as they used to be, but their still not cheap."

"Well, I would like to believe it." Hibiki said examining the ad more closely. Certainly, with the salary she and Miku got as part of SONG, affording this would be no problem. But nonetheless... "I have to trust Miku though. She tends to have good instincts about these sorts of things."

"Ah, ye of little faith!" Yumi faked some disappointment for a moment before grinning and grabbing up the magazine again. "It's just an idea but I guess it would be better to confirm these claims first. Let me go get my lunch then we can chat about it some more."

Hibiki began to nod before the full implications caught on to her. "Wait, you came straight here with that?"

"Yep!" Was all Yumi called back as she took off for the serving table.

"Like we said, she's been going on about it all morning." Kuriyo said as she took the seat next to Miku.

For her part, Shiori took her seat on the other side of Hibiki from where Yumi had been. "Although it has been awhile since we've had the opportunity to just chat like this."

"Oh, your right!" Hibiki perked up. "I think the last time we've just talked was… um…"

"Just before winter break." Kuriyo recalled. "You know, after that big test Hina helped you pass?"

Miku eyebrows scrunched together in thought. "That long? Really?"

"Yep!" Shiori recalled. "Although we'll admit, we did want to give you two a bit of space."

Hibiki blinked. "Why?"

Shiori grinned. "Well, word on the school grapevine was that you two finally confessed to each other. I kinda don't believe it, because how were you two not already basically married?"

As if they were in-synch, Miku and Hibiki shifted uncomfortably in an almost identical manner. Shiori's grin dropped for one of disbelief. "You mean… you two weren't already…"

"Well… we kinda always knew. About how we felt for each other." Miku's blush grew with every sentence. "It's just we never really put it into words until last February."

"Although I'm glad we did!" Hibiki declared, suddenly reaching across the table to seize both of Miku's hands. "And I'll say it as many times as I need too: I love you, Miku!"

Miku's already rather intense blush erupted into a full inferno as Shiori and Kuriyo gaped at such a blunt statement.

"EH?!" That cry hadn't come from Miku though. The four at the table turned to see Yumi standing just a few feet away from the table, who had dropped her tray on the floor and appeared to be in a state of shock. "Bikky and Hina are actually together?!"

Now the stare from Shiori became incredulous. "How are _you _the only one who didn't already know that?"

* * *

_"The training regimen seems acceptable. I would rather beat him in a fair fight though… No? Fine. It isn't a dealbreaker, there are other ways for me to prove myself. I'll do it."_

* * *

The sun had already set by the time Miku and Hibiki began to make their way back to their apartment. After Hibiki's impassioned reaffirmation of her feelings for Miku, the rest of the school day had passed uneventfully enough and Hibiki had agreed to make-up to embarrassing Miku by volunteering as their shopping bag mule for their mall trip. Ever unwilling to let Hibiki shoulder the burden, however, Miku had insisted on taking at least a few of the bags for herself. Not coincidentally it also freed up just enough of Hibiki's arm space that the two were able to hold hands as they walked home.

"What should we have for dinner tonight?" Miku asked as they turned onto their street.

Hibiki glanced down into one of the shopping bags as she considered the question. "Well, we picked up enough pork. So how about some Tonkatsu?"

"That sounds good." Miku agreed. The two lapsed back into a comfortable silence for a few seconds, just enjoying the presence of each other's company.

Hibiki felt it was a wonderful moment. And it was thoroughly ruined the moment she first noticed him.

They were just one building over when she noticed him. She probably wouldn't have seen him at all had it not been for a moment where his sunglasses caught the light off of a nearby street lamps. It only later occurred to Hibiki to wonder who wore sunglasses at night. He was standing just across the street from them, albeit further down by several dozen meters, at the lip of an alley and standing just within the pool of light from one of the street lamps. The business suit, sans tie, did make her briefly consider it was someone from SONG. But wouldn't someone from SONG be waiting for them directly in front of the building?

But what caused her to stop was the rigid intensity of the man's gaze. Even behind the sunglasses, Hibiki could feel the intensity of his stare directed straight at her and Miku. It made her feel as if she was being studied by a microscope. It took another second for her to realize that even from here she could tell the man's skin was stupendously pale. Hibiki, as with most Japanese, had largely been socialized to regard pale skin as a sign of beauty. But this man seemed so pallid that any sense of attraction was completely washed away instead by an uncanny feeling of unease.

Before she could make out anything more, Miku noticed that Hibiki had suddenly stopped as she started to pull ahead. She turned in confusion. "Hibiki? Is everything alright?"

"Oh, uh… yeah." Her voice pulled Hibiki's attention away from the awfully pale man and back to Miku. "Hey Miku do you know…" She trailed off as she looked back to find the man was gone, vanished as completely as if he never existed.

"Huh?" Miku turned her own head in the direction Hibiki was looking for a few moments and, finding nothing, then turned with a worried expression back to her girlfriend. "Is everything alright?"

Hibiki blinked a few times, then gave a brief laugh. Were her other hand free, she probably would have been scratching the back of her head with it in embarrassment. "Yeah. Thought I saw someone and was wondering if you knew him. Guess it was just my imagination."

And yet even as they entered the front door of the apartment complex, Hibiki couldn't shake the feeling that there was a pair of eyes whose gaze was boring their way into the back of her head.

* * *

**Authors Notes: **So begins this fic idea I've had rattling around in my brain since I marathoned Symphogear two weeks ago, particularly since it's a fandom badly in need of quality fic works. We'll see if this is good enough to qualify as such.

In case the sunglasses didn't make it obvious enough, this is NOT a Slenderman crossover. Although I would be lying if I said I didn't take at least a little inspiration from it. It isn't the only inspiration that should become apparent, though I'll let you guys try to find those.

Next, honorifics. I have largely decided to discard them in favor of using "last name/first name" basis to illustrate degrees of formality/informality. The big exception here is when I need to use them for emphasis, such as when a character is explicitly invoking a form of address or their use is somehow unusual. You can see an example of that with Komichi's attitude towards Maria.

Speaking of Komichi, believe it or not she is NOT an OC... mostly. She's one of the trio of classmates who chases Chris around near the start of G. I'd be amazed at anime's willingness to give otherwise unobtrusive background characters names if I hadn't seen it done well before Symphogear. Of course, having virtually no canon characterization means I'm gonna have to invent all of it, hence the "mostly".

Finally, a fair bit of warning here: some rather major canon characters are going to die. The villains here are going to be targeting not just the Symphogear adaptors, but also their support base and that's going to mean casualties. Precisely who is gonna bite it would be spoiling but I don't want anyone accusing me of springing this sort of thing on them.


	2. Chapter 2: Come and See

Author's Notes: I mentally labelled the bulk of this chapter "slice of life interrupted by spooky dude". You'll probably be able to figure out why.

Distortions

Chapter 2:

Come and See

* * *

Miku first saw him the very next afternoon.

By that point, she was already aware that something had been bugging Hibiki and what it was. Her girlfriend had started the day well enough - that is by oversleeping - but starting from the walk to school she had become increasingly jumpy, especially when they were walking outside from one building to the other. By the lunch period, Hibiki had already informed Miku that she had spotted a very pale man in a business suit watching them, not just the night before but twice on the way to school and several times while moving between classes.

Hibiki had even spotted him once during class, when she was looking out the window. Miku was able to narrow down which class that had been by the fact that Hibiki was yelled at by the teacher for being distracted, which perhaps counted as a favor since it fulfilled the daily quota. So far, Hibiki had reassured her he had never appeared inside the school grounds; he was always either just in front of the gate, on one of the surrounding streets, or the rooftops of the surrounding buildings.

Piano class was one of the few classes Miku had without Hibiki. Among all the musical instruments, Miku had found piano to be her favorite. She just found something soothing about losing herself to the hand motions and the melody they created. Hibiki had tried the piano but she had a tendency to smash on the keys too hard, which risked damaging the components, something which Chris had made a number of jokes about when she had found out. In that first month after their confession, when Hibiki's embrace alone didn't seem to be enough to ward off Miku's nightmares, the two had found that what worked best for Miku was to just play a little on the small piano they had acquired for their home with Hibiki next to her, just resting her head on Miku's shoulder.

They still occasionally did that now before bed, especially on non-school nights when they could afford to stay up a little later, even though it had been months since Miku's last nightmare.

The class was nearing its end and Miku had already finished her independent practice, moving instead to clean the instrumentation. Her piano's position gave her an ideal view of the gate and it was with what was supposed to be an errant glance as she shut the piano keys cover that she saw him. Even at this distance, she could tell his gaze was fixed on her with an intensity that sent a shiver down her spine. And somehow, she could feel that he _saw _her as perfectly as if she was standing right in front of him.

It took another moment for Miku to notice something else. The street outside was reasonably busy, for the time of day, and yet the people on it seemed to take no notice of an unnaturally pale man standing literally a single step outside an all-girls music school. As if to illustrate the point, Miku watched a pair of students walk right by the gate and they didn't so much as glance at him.

"Kohinata!" The teacher's call caused Miku to flinch and quickly snapped her attention towards the front of the room.

"Yes?"

"Could you stay after class?" The piano teacher was a kindly man who had a strong reputation for the fair treatment of his students, so it was something of a surprise when he went on to say, "I'd like to talk to you about possible career options. It is your last year, you know, and you have been one of the best piano students I've had this year."

"Certainly, sensei." Miku quickly nodded. As he smiled and turned away, Miku quickly glanced back out the window.

The pale man was already gone. That didn't make her feel any better.

* * *

Tsubasa was at one of those variety quiz shows when she first saw him.

Initially, she barely noticed his presence. His was just an unusually pale face in the crowd of the studio audience, situated relatively towards the back, and she at first wrote him off just as some foreign tourists who had gotten a ticket to the show. But just as she began to really register the fact that his gaze never seemed to waver from her, regardless of who was talking or what was happening among the participants and host, Tsubasa was distracted by a question from the host and he was gone when her attention turned back to the audience.

But the big confrontation came after the quiz show was over. Tsubasa was returning to the studio's guest room when she saw the pale man again… talking to Ogawa? Tsubasa practically froze mid-step when she saw the ninja, with his glasses on, speaking to the pale man with a polite smile across the backstage area from her. At the distance they were at, their conversation was just a distant murmur.

As Tsubasa redirected herself and instead began to make her way towards the two, the two seemed to finish their conversation. The pale man simply gave Shinji a polite farewell nod, turned, and walked off at a brisk pace.

"Ogawa." Tsubasa greeted her manager-slash-bodyguard. "Who was that?"

Shinji simply blinked at the question. "Who was what?"

Tsubasa gave him a sharp look. "The man you were just talking too!"

"Oh! Him!" Shinji was back to his polite smile. "He said he was just a representative from another station. He wanted to know if your schedule was open for an interview this week. Unfortunately, we already had you fully booked."

Well, that certainly explained why that pale man was here, but not why he was watching Tsubasa like a hawk during the show. "Did… anything seem strange about him?"

"Well…" Ogawa said frowning as his brow furrowed. "Now that you mention it. He did seem a little ill. Must have had a cold."

Tsubasa turned and narrowed her eyes in the direction the man had walked off too. Normally, Shinji had a good instinct about people that Tsubasa had learned to trust. It came with the territory. Ninja and all. But Tsubasa also knew it wasn't perfect. Ryoko had proven that.

"Is everything okay, Tsubasa?" Shinji asked.

"I don't know."

* * *

Chris was with Komichi when she first saw him.

They never really stuck to a single location in terms of their post-class meet-ups. Or perhaps to be more accurate, they were still trying to find a location that they liked to visit regularly. The college's location relative to Flower made it too inconvenient, otherwise Chris would have unhesitatingly brought them there regularly.

The restaurant they were at today seemed nice enough, with a nice view of the sea from the outdoor tables and a not unreasonable train ride from the college. Whenever the two had found an agreeable enough place they would do what any two _good friends_ who regularly visit a locale do: talk. At first, their conversations had been limited to their classes- They were classmates after all, and their initial meet-ups had been about the convenience of having a study partner whom they already knew; but as their relationship deepened, Chris and Komiji had begun to share personal details that they had never mentioned to each other when they had only been _good friends_.

But the conversation they were having at the moment… was not one of those conversations.

"-And that's why rainbow sprinkles are sure to be the future for donut toppings!" Komichi confidently finished. Then she paused as she noticed the look Chris was giving her. "What?"

"Well, first off." Chris began. "The opposite of tuna isn't chicken. Salmon is the opposite of tuna."

Komichi blinked. "How do you figure? Aren't they both fish?"

"Well yeah. But you gotta look deeper than that." Chris was about to jab her fork to emphasize her point, but at the last moment restrained herself. She was making more of an effort with her table manners around Komichi after the brunette had laughed at her at the first restaurant they had been too. "Ya see, salmon swim against the current while the tuna swim with it."

"I see." Komichi said in thought. "Although that deal sounds like it works better for the tuna."

"Suppose so." Chris agreed. "But anyways, the second thing! Rainbow sprinkles are everywhere these days. They're already too common for them to be the future of donut toppings!"

"What would you recommend instead?"

Chris brought a hand to her chin, thinking for a while before answering, "Pineapple slices, I guess?"

Komichi stared in disbelief for a second before she burst out laughing. "That's awful! H-how would that even work?!"

"I don't know!" Chris blushed. "They do it for pizza!"

"Yes!" Komichi managed between her gales of laughter. "And it's _awful_!"

"Whatever!" Chris crossed her arms as Komichi finished laughing, disgruntled. "Why are we even talking about this?"

Wiping the last of her tears from her eyes, Komichi gave a delighted sigh. "I don't know. We just kinda started a little while ago." She smiled. "It's nice though, isn't it?"

"I-I suppose." Her smile made Chris's insides suddenly feel… squishy, she supposed is how she would describe it. _'God, Is this how Kohinata and that idiot feel around each other all the time? I… I guess I could get used to this.'_

Feeling quite self-conscious, Chris turned her gaze towards the sea… and saw the pale man.

He was standing right next to the fence that separated the boardwalk from the sea, next to some guy with a camera who was looking in the other direction, and his laser-like gaze felt like it was boring straight into Chris's soul. Suddenly confronted with such a bizarre and uncomfortable sight, one that reminded her a bit too much of some of the looks she received when she had been trafficked about, Chris reacted almost instinctively.

"HEY!" She shouted, shooting up from her chair. "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT, YA CREEP?!"

"Chris?!" Komichi recoiled in alarm. "What's wrong?"

"That guy!" Chris looked back to Komichi and pointed straight out at the pale man. "He was staring at us like…" She trailed off as she turned back only to find the pale man was gone and the cameraman instead had turned around, looking rather startled by her shouting. "What the-?"

"Excuse me, miss." The waitress had approached at her shout. "Is everything alright?"

"Ah, yes!" Chris hastily replied, quickly taking her seat. "I just… thought I saw something and was startled by it, that is all."

"I see." The waitress gave a polite smile. "Since I am here, do you need anything else?"

"No. I think we're fine." Komiji replied quickly.

Chris nodded in agreement and tried to get back on track, but in truth she didn't feel fine; not any more.

* * *

Maria was giving a solo concert when she first saw him.

It was a minor affair compared to even her regular concerts, much less one of the big joint ones she liked to have with Tsubasa. Its small size and lack of ambition is what allowed her to host it so soon after the big one with Tsubasa.

"_I've changed, so I can move on with pride._

_I sing a dream in my heart… in silver._"

Maria finished the last lyric in _Kono Ima wo Ikiru Hikari_, her opening song for the night, and then, as the music hammered out the final note, bowed as applause and cheers rippled through the audience. She waited for the noise to settle before segueing into a little banter.

"Everyone! Thank you for coming!" She said. It was basic boilerplate stuff, but the crowds always seemed to appreciate it. "We have a great show for you tonight and I hope you enjoy my perform-"

Then one of the screens, the ones that focused on her face so audience members behind her or otherwise at odd and distant angles could see her, broke. By itself, that wouldn't have been enough to throw Maria off her groove- Technical problems happened in show business, particularly at the less well-prepared concerts where there wasn't as much time or staff to make sure everything was running at 100%; you just had to roll with it. A screen's feed cutting to static was rather tame as far as these things went.

Except the screen didn't go to static. Or to be more accurate, it didn't just go to static. Rather, one moment it was showing Maria talking into her microphone on stage. The next moment it was static. And then the very next moment it showed the pale man, staring down from the screen right at her.

Maria froze, and not just because of the unexpected sight. Intellectually, she understood that the screen was for viewing others, not to be viewed. But a feeling welled up in her gut that the man on the screen could see her just as assuredly as she could see him. As if to make it all the weirder, the background behind the man indicated he was standing at the same place Maria was right now. When she realized that, she quickly glanced around to confirm that, yes, she was indeed alone on the stage right now.

Maria blinked and just like that, the screen was back to normal. The crowd didn't seem to have noticed the broken - was it broken? - screen. But they did notice Maria's pause, which by this point was going on multiple seconds, and a wave of confusion visibly passed through them

Tamping down on the feeling of unease, Maria swiftly realized that she had to get back on track before she accidentally wasted too much time and basically ruined the entire concert. "S-sorry about that everyone! Anyway, as I was saying, I wish you all well, and I hope everyone here enjoys my performance tonight!"

But as the next song began, Maria felt that unease, though eminently ignorable, just would not go away.

* * *

Kirika and Shirabe were on an after-school date together when they first saw him.

Had Chris been with them at the time, she probably would have shouted at them to get a room several times by now. The amount of handholding and ice cream sharing would have probably been downright unsanitary in her eyes. But while Shirabe and Kirika liked their senpai very much, they also felt like she was kind of a prude, though they were smart enough to never actually say as much when Chris was in earshot.

However, the current moment didn't allow much for that, probably to the imaginary Chris's relief. She probably would have found other reasons to be exasperated. For example, what Kirika was doing at the moment. In Kirika's defense, the grey fish in the Tokyo Sky Tower's aquarium just wouldn't change its face regardless of what face she herself was making.

"Kiri-chan." Shirabe, ever the epitome of patience, finally said after a solid minute of this. "I don't think the fish can make any other sort of face."

"I know that! I just want him to laugh!" Kirika replied, failing to notice that her snappy reply sent the fish scurrying away from the glass. She turned back. "Ah! He ran off!"

"Honestly." Shirabe quietly smiled as Kirika went back to try and get the attention of another fish. Presumably to make more faces at.

She glanced briefly over her shoulder… and saw the pale man. He was on the second level balcony, staring down at them. It was only because of the way Shirabe had to tilt her head to cast her gaze over her shoulder that she saw him. Almost immediately, Shirabe snapped her head back forward. Then she carefully turned her head towards Kirika until she could see him out of the corner of her eyes.

She took a step to the left. Almost imperceptibly, his gaze adjusted. She stepped to the right. It followed.

"Kiri-chan." Shirabe almost whispered.

"Yeah?" Kirika replied, still trying to catch the attention of a shark.

"Do you see the very pale man watching us from the second floor balcony?"

Kirika paused. Then she spun around and very visibly started scanning the second balcony.

Shirabe resisted the brief temptation to throttle her precious, wonderful, _totally derpy _girlfriend with well practiced patience. After all, it wasn't like she herself couldn't be like that. Fortunately, the pale man didn't seem to notice.

Kirika then turned back and then slowly turned her head towards Shirabe, as Shirabe herself had done earlier. "Yeah, I see him. Think he might be trouble?"

"I don't know. Let's confront him." Shirabe indicated the stairs behind them, to the left.

"What if he runs?" Kirika said back.

Shirabe paused to think on it; then, "There's another set of stairs over there that lead to the same hallway that connects with the other side of the balcony. You go over there, call me when your ready, then you run up the stairs. And if he's real trouble… you have Igalima?"

"Of course. And you have Shul-Shagana?" Shirabe nodded, but Kirika continued "But won't the commander get angry if we just use them on some random weirdo?"

"I have a feeling he isn't just some random weirdo." Shirabe muttered back.

Kirika paused. "You might be right. That stare isn't natural." Then she raised her voice. "Hey, Shirabe. I've got to run to the restroom. Can you wait here?"

Shirabe made the motion of very visibly nodding and Kirika, with a quick "Be right back!" ran off to her right. It was good thinking on her part, since the restrooms did lay in that direction. Surreptitiously, Shirabe glanced at the pale man from the corner of her eye.

His head steadily turned to follow Kirika until she was out of sight then turned back to stare down at Shirabe. He made no other movement. Good.

About a half-minute later, her phone rang.

"I'm in position." Kirika said. Shirabe quickly glanced at the pale man. He still hadn't moved.

"When I say go… GO." Shirabe said, quickly hanging up, spinning around, and charging up the two flights of stairs. A few of the other visitors glanced at her in surprise but she moved with only just enough speed. She turned at the top to find the Pale Man was already gone but undeterred, she took off across the balcony and into the hallway on the other end.

She and Kirika wound-up almost running into each other there.

"What?! Did he get past you? No way!" They both said to each other simultaneously.

They paused to catch their breath. "W-where did he go?" Kirika said, her head whipping around. "I didn't see him at all!"

"I don't know." Shirabe said. "And… I don't think we've seen the last of him."

* * *

The final straw came at Lydian.

Hibiki hummed happily as she waited for Miku to finish her piano class. For once, today had actually been going quite well. She hadn't been yelled at. A quiz had returned with a grade in the solid 80s. And best of all, neither her or Miku had seen that creepy pale guy once today so far.

The Pale Man; Hibiki still wasn't sure when she had begun to think of that description in terms of a proper noun, had been a regular presence throughout the week and the two girls had found that the pace of encounters had done nothing to reduce how unnerving his sudden presence and watchful gaze could be. Only the fact that he had _just _been watching them, and always at a distance, had prevented them from already informing Genjuro or calling anyone else yet. They were close, though, as his appearances were making them nervous.

Hibiki had already become jumpy when it came to sudden movements at the edge of her vision and Miku was feeling more and more apprehensive. It was as if the Pale Man's mere presence was wearing at their nerves. Which made it all quite the relief when the last day of the week had thus far been completely free of any sign of him.

"Hibiki." Miku softly greeted as she exited her class.

"Hey Miku!" Hibiki greeted back. The two comfortably fell in alongside one another as they began to walk down the hallway. "Good class?"

"Rather routine, really." Miku checked over her shoulder for a moment before asking the question, "Any sign of him?"

Hibiki pumped her fist. "Nope! You?"

"No." Miku sighed with relief. "Not a sign."

"Looks like he's gone. What a relief!"

They turned the corner to the hallway leading to the stairs only to instantly freeze because the Pale Man stood at the very next intersection, facing their way. As if he had been waiting for them.

"Okay." Hibiki bit out. "That's it. I've had enough."

"Hibiki?" Miku asked worriedly. "What-"

"HEY! YOU!" Hibiki shouted as she took off towards the Pale Man.

The moment Hibiki had shouted, the Pale Man turned and quickly walked down the other hall, disappearing out of sight.

"Hibiki, wait!" Miku said as she recovered from her surprise.

"COME BACK HERE! WE NEED TO TALK!" Hibiki shouted as she sprinted around the hall turn the Pale Man had walked down. Miku heard a shout of surprise and the sound of two bodies impacting the ground. Miku herself took off running but even before she reached the intersection, she heard a third, _very _familiar voice speak up.

"TA-CHI-BA-NA!"

Miku stopped at the turn and, sure enough, there was Hibiki just sitting back up, a spread of documents, and a rather angry Nakane climbing back to her feet.

"Just what do you think you're doing running down the halls! Especially without checking where you were going!" The blonde teacher shouted as she reached down, grabbed Hibiki's arm, and yanked her to her feet. "Look at the mess you caused!"

"Sorry sensei!" Hibiki replied hastily. "But I saw a suspicious person and he went down this hallway."

Nakane quirked a skeptical eyebrow and her next words were full of skepticism. "Nobody went passed me."

"It's true. Sensei." Miku jumped in. "Both me and Hibiki saw a very suspicious man in the hallway and Hibiki chased him this way. This isn't really the first time we've seen him either. He's been hanging around the school for several days now, but today is the first time we saw him _in _the school."

The anger disappeared from Nakane's face, replaced first by puzzlement, then by thought, and finally concern. "This man, what did he look like?"

Glad to have the teacher's anger at her defused for the moment, Hibiki quickly replied. "We haven't gotten a very good look at his face yet. But he's wearing a business suit, a pair of sunglasses, and looks really pale."

"Oh dear." The look on Nakane's face was down right grave now. "I had already been informed of a suspicious person with such a description around the campus by two second-years earlier today and told the principle. But if you two have seen him again already… we might need to have a faculty meeting."

Miku and Hibiki exchanged a look of surprise. So somebody else had seen him after all? Then the same suspicion overcame both of them. "Another two underclassmen have seen him?" Miku asked.

"Yes." Nakane said. "I think I've seen you with them before in fact. Akatsuki and Tsukuyomi, I believe?" Then another scowl crossed her face. "But Tachibana!"

"Yes!" Hibiki snapped to attention.

"If you see a suspicious person on campus, you should find a faculty member to report him to. Or a police officer. Don't try to chase him down on you own! What if he were a kidnapper?"

Hibiki wanted to sigh, but knew that would only drag the lecture out even more. "Yes, sensei."

"As long as you understand." Nakane glanced down at all the school documents the collision had spread everywhere. "Now could you two help me pick these up?"

Eager to get back on the teacher's good side, Hibiki nodded and scrambled down to begin gathering the documents back up. But the moment Nakane couldn't see them, both Miku and Hibiki shot each other a look of silent agreement.

They were definitely calling the others first thing after school today.

* * *

"Have any of you seen a very pale man following you around?" Maria opened practically without any other preamble the moment their drinks had been served at the corner booth they had chosen.

Chris, who had already started taking a sip, almost spewed it across the entire table. "You've seen him too?!"

"He first appeared in a screen at one of my concerts this week." Maria confirmed. "I've seen him in person at least four more times since then."

"I first saw him talking to Ogawa at a show, who seemed to think he was a rep from another station. He walked off before I could talk to him." Tsubasa said. "He was at the next two shows I did, but Ogawa didn't mention him again. And I saw him again outside my home last night."

"I first saw him walking home with Miku several nights ago." Hibiki glanced around nervously. "Then Miku saw him the next day, during her piano class."

"We've both seen him a number of times since." Miku confirmed. "He appeared _inside _Lydian just yesterday. Hibiki chased him down another hallway… but he was gone by the time she turned the corner. She ran right into a teacher too." Hibiki blanched in embarrassment at that. "Nobody else at the school, besides Kirika and Shirabe, seems to have seen him. That's when we called everyone here."

"Kiri-chan and I saw him at the aquarium." Shirabe said.

Kirika nodded quickly. "We tried to corner him on the second level, since there were only two ways up there, so I looped around and Shirabe doubled back… but he was gone! Then we saw him on Lydian grounds this morning when we entered the school."

Everybody turned to stare at Chris. "I was at a restaurant with Komichi when I first saw him. I shouted at him and that seemed to scare him off for a moment. But then I saw him watching me from the station platform after I saw off Komichi and boarded the train home. _And _at the station near my home when the train pulled in. He was gone by the time I was through the door though. And yeah, I've seen him several more times since." She scowled. "Who the hell _is _he?"

"Or perhaps _what _is he?" Maria said levelly. "The places he is able to get and how fast he is able to escape, they just don't match-up with any ordinary human abilities."

"An alchemist? A autoscorer? Another Symphogear Adaptor?" Shirabe was frowning even as she posited those ideas.

"An alchemist seems more likely." Tsubasa nodded. "But those teleportation crystals they use… their rather noticeable, both leaving and arriving. And it doesn't explain why others haven't really noticed him."

"Maybe he's a ghost who's decided to haunt us?" Hibiki suggested.

"I-idiot!" Chris immediately replied, suddenly going slightly pale herself. "Don't joke like that!"

"B-besides." Kirika added. "A g-ghost is just too ridiculous."

"Kiri-chan." Shirabe said. "We're song-powered magical girls who have literally punched a mad scientist, eldritch abominations, an ancient Sumerian priestess, the Illuminati, and the moon in the face."

"_We_ punched the ancient Sumerian priestess." Chris grumbled, indicating Hibiki and Tsubasa as well.

Miku giggled. "When you put it like that, it sounds rather ridiculous. And makes a ghost sound rather tame."

"If we're going to speculate." Maria swiftly cut in before they could get too off-topic. "What if he's a custodian?"

A moment of silence met that question. The last custodian they had fought was Shem-Ha. That was tough enough and she had only been around for a few days. How bad would one who had been around for almost a week, probably even more?

"Well..." Hibiki's face was scrunched up in thought. "That sounds like it might be possible. Although they aren't exactly the spooky and silent type."

"How do we know that?" Chris challenged. "We've met a grand total of two. Hardly a telling sample size."

"Maybe he's a friendly custodian?" Kirika offered. "Like Enki was?"

Tsubasa raised an eyebrow. "Stalking us doesn't seem very friendly."

"Well, they aren't human, right?" Hibiki seemed to be warming to the idea. "And if they haven't been around humans for 5,000 years, then they might not know stalking is impolite."

"Wait, why are we assuming he hasn't been around for 5,000 years?" Maria asked.

"Well, Enki did say that all the other custodians left when Shem-Ha turned against them. That would be 5,000 years ago." Miku nodded.

"Um… g-guys." Kirika said, staring wide-eyed across the room. She was too quiet though, and nobody heard her.

"Then why did he come back?" Tsubasa challenged.

Hibiki thought for a moment. "Maybe he noticed the curse of balal was lifted and wanted to know why?"

"Guys." Kirika said, louder this time.

"Then why is he stalking _**us**_?" Chris demanded.

"He's… curious about the Symphogears?"

Chris opened her mouth to challenge that guess once more, but Kirika interrupted her.

"Guys!" She said loud enough to finally have everyone pay attention to her. Then she pointed. "T-the Pale Man. He's here."

They looked. And sure enough, standing on the other end of the cafe next to the employee's only door was the Pale Man, his gaze trained on the seven. As the adaptors processed the sight, a waitress passed the Pale Man and went through the service door. He immediately turned and began to follow her.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" Chris shouted, practically _**leaping **_over the table as she raced across the cafe, catching the attention of every other customer in the process. The Pale Man simply ignored her and continued on through the door. A few seconds later, Chris burst into the kitchen after him… only to be met by the stares of two cooks and the waitress, who had turned around at the commotion. Of the Pale Man, there was no sign.

"Miss?" The waitress began. "Can we help you?"

Chris felt her face began to heat up. "Um… no. I'm fine."

The waitress tilted her head in confusion. "Then… I'm sorry, but this area is for employees only."

"Right. Sorry." Chris answered. "I've gotta go."

She beat a hasty retreat back to her table. Her face burned under the diminishing stares of the other customers as she made her way back over to the booth and plopped back down.

Tsubasa pulled out her communicator. "That's it. I'm calling the commander."

* * *

"A pale man?" Genjuro muttered to himself. They were all crammed in Genjuro's office aboard SONGs HQ, rather then the bridge. Like most of the rooms on board the submarine, it was rather spacious by submarine standards, but it was still ultimately a submarine and nine people plus furniture all stuffed in meant that elbow room was starting to become limited.

Tsubasa nodded. "We've all seen him. Both individually and as a group. He acts just as we described, appearing and disappearing in impossible places. And always watching us. He convinced Ogawa he was from another TV station."

Genjuro turned to his second. "Ogawa, do you remember this man?"

Shinji looked troubled. "I remember the man who said he was from another TV station. I remember telling him that Tsubasa was booked for the week and thinking he looked a little sick. I remember the conversation I had with Tsubasa afterwards. But thinking back on it now, I can't remember anything else about him. I don't remember exactly what he looked like or if he introduced himself or even how exactly he approached me." He bowed his head. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright." Genjuro said. "It sounds like this Pale Man has some ability to manipulate people's perceptions and memories of him. It sounds like he was able to use that to make you think he wasn't suspicious until you heard this."

Shinji shook his head. "No. I should have pursued this when Tsubasa first asked me about him."

"Regardless." Genjuro was clearly mollifying his subordinate. "What's done is done and we can't always expect perfection, particularly not all the time. What matters is what we can do about him."

"Is it necessary to do anything about him?" Kirika asked. "All he's done is watch us."

"And he hadn't ever done so from within Lydian. _Until_ _today_. What if he goes further then just watching?" Chris countered. "And even if he never does anything else, do you want this ultra-creepy looking dude following you and Shirabe around uninvited for the rest of your life?"

"No." Shirabe replied. "Kiri-chan, Chris is right. We have to do something about the Pale Man."

"I'd like to talk to him." Hibiki said. "To try and figure out who he is and why he is doing this. But we can't do that if he just… runs away every time."

Genjuro crossed his arms. "Frankly, all I can do right now is to investigate him through our contacts and assign personal security with orders to look out for and confront the Pale Man if they see him. But given the capabilities you described, it doesn't sound like they would do much good. For now, just try to bear with it. If he does turn hostile… don't hesitate to try and take him down. If you have to resort to your gears to do it, then do so. I trust all of your judgement."

"If he suddenly goes hostile, he might attack us before we can activate our gears." Maria observed.

"Heh… well, he's in for a surprise if he thinks he could do that so easily." Chris smirked. "Not with the training the old man here has put us through."

"Not all of us." Tsubasa glanced over at Miku. "Kohinata hasn't received any training outside of her gear."

Hibiki went rigid despite the comforting hand Miku quickly placed on her shoulder.

"Then perhaps we should try to correct that." Genjuro said. "Tachibana, Kohinata. You are both free tomorrow?"

Miku could sense where this was going and nodded. For her own part, Hibiki broke out into a grin, her earlier fear replaced with excitement. "Master, you mean-"

"Yes." Genjuro nodded. "How about you both come down to get some training done."

Chris blanched. Miku was going to go through _that_?

"I'd be happy too." Miku said instantly.

"_YES!_" Hibiki was practically leaping with excitement. "I'm going to get to train with Miku!"

Genjuro grinned broadly. "Good! I'll see you both first thing in the morning then!"

At the implied dismissal, the girls got up and began to filter through the door. Chris, however, quickly stopped Miku and Hibiki right outside. "You… you do know what you're getting into, right Kohinata?"

Miku nodded. "I remember when Hibiki started training. I didn't say anything at the time, but I did follow her. At the time, it upset me that Hibiki wasn't telling me why but looking back on it now, it makes me proud of her. And if I want to be able to stand by your side, I'll have to do it too."

"Besides, Chris, Miku was on the track team in middle school, remember?" Hibiki threw an arm around Miku in a great big bear hug. "She's way tougher than she looks. Don't you underestimate my Miku."

Miku blushed at the proclamation of "my Miku", but simply opted to remain silent and enjoy Hibiki's hug.

"Alright, alright!" Chris muttered, flustered, turning away in a huff. "Jeeze, do that stuff at home."

Back in the office, Genjuro turned to Shinji. "Ogawa-"

"Sir, I'd like to apologize, again." Shinji said. "I should never have let the Pale Man-"

"Ogawa!" It wasn't often that Genjuro had to see his friend beating himself up over a failure and he hated it. That said, he also knew that simply saying that Shinji was forgiven wouldn't help. It was better to take a different tack. "If you really want to make up for it, then find out everything you can about the Pale Man."

Ogawa nodded. "I'll leave no stone unturned."

"Good." Genjuro said. "Now get started. I've got to figure out how to put some security on the girls without it being too intrusive for their privacy."

"Yes sir." Shinji said, starting to head to the door. Then he paused and turned. "Do you think he might come here?"

Genjuro waved an arm at the security camera he had installed in his office. "If he does, we'll know about it. And if I have to take him down myself, I will."

* * *

[15Z601 Secure Access. Please Enter Authentication: ******* ]

[Authentication Verified]

[BRAVO-ROMEO-DELTA Clearance Verified]

[Archival Request Granted]

[15Z601 Audio Log #54301-D-3253. Date: 06/23/2045 1012 GMT]

[NOTE: Log Classified BRAVO-ROMEO-DELTA. Per Red Unit COMSEC Protocols, TFH-WU Callsigns Are Used For Speakers.]

[15Z601 Link Established. Log Begins.]

**The Lamb:** "Red Unit's secured the line. Report. Have you received the orders?"

**WN-1-A: **"Yes sir. Two's perfectly satisfied, but Four complained that her target isn't an Oscar."

**The Lamb: "**Will it be an issue?"

**WN-1-A: **"No sir. I think she was just shooting shit, in her own way. My main concern is that Black Unit hasn't sent us either Two or Four's gear yet."

**The Lamb: **"I checked, it's in transport at the moment. But they shouldn't need it for these missions. They've received their implants, correct?"

**WN-1-A: **"Yes sir. Two finished recovery from the surgery on Monday."

**The Lamb:** "Then inform them they should consider this their final initiation."

**WN-1-A: **"Yes sir."

**The Lamb: **"Any questions?"

**WN-1-A: **"A few." [Notable Pause Recorded] "We're going overt soon, aren't we sir?

**The Lamb: **"What makes you say that?"

**WN-1-A: **"Missions like these? SONG will know we're going to be hunting them regardless of how well it goes off, even if they don't know precisely who 'we' are. Doesn't make much sense to procrastinate with this cloak-and-dagger bullshit then."

**The Lamb: **"You're a smart woman, Lieutenant. And your right. After these missions, there's no going back. We're going overt within the next month. The first White Unit battlegroups have already been placed on standby."

**WN-1-A: **"In that case, what's the status of Project Sabin?"

**The Lamb: **"Months before they even have the first prototype, I'm afraid. Pale Unit's struggling with the miniaturization process."

**WN-1-A: **"Ah. A pity. It would be useful. We'll just have to make do."

**The Lamb: **"That's what is expected of you. Dismissed."

[15Z601 Link Terminated. Log Ends]

* * *

'_Room 807. All clear, nobody here. Check the cooler for the drop. Kits all here, as briefed. Examine the lane from location. Range, about 3100. Obstructions? Oh yeah, there's the park and those trees. Then the alleyway. Tough, but doable for someone like me. Just how I like it.'_

'_Alright, assembly. Action, barrel, stock… leave the sight off for the moment. Damn, this thing is huge! Sure, the target is tough but to bring something this big? Goddamn. At least I won't have to worry about lugging it around. Just four rounds? Well, not a surprise there.'_

"Master!" Hibiki announced into the intercom all sing-song. "The formidable duo, Miku and Hibiki, here and ready to go!"

Miku giggled softly as Genjuro replied. "Alright, Tachibana! I'll be right out!"

And indeed, a few moments later he did emerge from the dojo, all dressed up in his usual red work out clothes. "Alright! Kohinata, are you ready for this?"

"Yes, commander!" Miku replied eagerly.

"Good!" Genjuro stated. "I figured we would start with a warm-up run before moving to the main event. And for relaxation, of course, an action movie! There's just one problem..."

"What's that?" Hibiki asked.

"I haven't decided what movie to watch." Genjuro turned to Miku. "Since it's Kohinata's first time, I figured I'd let her pick."

"Ah, I have no preference." Miku waved her hand. She actually didn't much care for action movies, not that she disliked them either. She had watched some with Hibiki and while some were interesting, most had seemed silly to her. Then again, that was before she regained her Symphogear, so maybe things would be different with that one battle under her belt… well, the one where she wasn't brainwashed or possessed, that is.

"I know, Master!" Hibiki shot her hand up, as if in class.

"Yes, Tachibana!" Genjuro pointed, as if a teacher calling on a student.

"Since the Shenshoujing's attacks are based on energy-weapons, how about something with a lot of lasers!"

"A sci-fi action movie, hm?" Genjuro rubbed his chin. "I don't know how many of those I have."

As Hibiki and Genjuro debated on which decades old, American sci-fi blockbuster they should watch, Miku instead stepped forward from Hibiki's side to the left of Genjuro to get a better look through the dojo's door so she could see what his yard was like. Through the open door, she caught a glimpse of the sides of a dirt path and two buildings. Her eye was quickly drawn to the other end of the path, where spaced several meters apart from each other was a pond and healthy looking tree. And standing between that tree and pond…

Miku's gut roiled as she saw the Pale Man, standing perfectly still and staring right back. No, not right back. Miku wasn't sure how she could tell, but she had no doubt that the Pale Man's gaze was directed slightly to her left. At Genjuro. Miku opened her mouth, about to call out to Hibiki and Genjuro. To alert them to the Pale Man's presence.

BOOM!

Miku staggered as something seemed to shove into her from the left. She felt something wet and slimy splash all over the same side of her face. Reaching up, she wiped at it and the front of her hand came away practically painted deep red. She turned back to the other two. She only saw Hibiki, except her entire front upper-body covered in red and bits of pink matter Miku was afraid identify. Hibiki's head was tilted to look down slightly, her face frozen in surprise and shock, her mouth still open in the prior conversation she was having with Genjuro.

Miku looked down. Genjuro lay on the ground. Or, to be more accurate, Genjuro's torso, legs, and arms all lay on the ground. His head was gone. Blood flowed onto the ground from astump of a neck.

"... Master?" Hibiki's voice was barely above a whisper.

'_Target is down. Mission complete. Time to… are the two Sierra-Golf's just going to stand there? Oh, they're in shock. Perfect! Act quick enough, I could bag three birds with one stone. Range, 3084…'_

"Hey… master… get-up. This isn't funny." Hibiki said, her voice full of raw disbelief. Genjuro lying at her feet? Headless? Dead? Impossible. Master had always been there since the day she became a Symphogear. Supported her. Trained her. Master was strong. Master was invincible. He couldn't just die. Especially not so suddenly like that. "Please?"

A man in plain clothes came barrelling across the street. Hibiki, her attention locked on Genjuro's headless body didn't even seem to notice him. Miku did, though, and she flinched away before realizing that she knew the man's face. She had seen him around SONGs HQ. Looking around, there were several more men in plain-clothes storming down the street.

The man came to a stop behind to Hibiki, standing between her and the alleyway across the street. "Dammit! What happ-"

With a loud BOOM, everything above the man's waist exploded in a shower of gore, skin, and bits of bone that splattered in every direction, drenching Hibiki from the back. Distantly, through the ringing in her ears, Miku heard someone screaming. Strange, it sounded like herself.

"FUCK, SNIPER!" Another of the plain-clothes SONG agents shouted, pushing Miku into the arms of another. "GET THEM INSIDE!"

One had already grabbed the seemingly-catatonic Hibiki and was dragging her inside the dojo's walls, which Genjuro had left ajar. The next instant, there was another BOOM and the forearm of the agent that had just pushed Miku vanished in a cloud of blood. Miku distantly registered the man's forefinger, detached but intact, striking her chest.

The agents seemed to have figured out the general direction of where the shots were coming from by this point, however, because they swiftly yanked Miku and Hibiki around the corner the moment they were through the dojo door. The last thing Miku remembered seeing was the midsection of the last SONG agent, who had been backing in through the dojo door with his gun drawn and scanning the street, disintegrate under the force of one last small explosion. Then she blacked out.

'_Hmm... Not fast enough. Have to be faster next time. And better. That third shot was downright sloppy. Close enough with that last shot, even if it was simple gratuity on my part. Pity the Sierra-Golf's got away. Time to go.'_

* * *

**Next Chapter: **Ripples

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Before everyone burns me at the stake for getting Genjuro shot (assuming you are still reading and haven't already skipped to typing very angry commentary), let me explain my reasoning. Before writing the story, I typed up some... rather extensive story notes. And since the big OC's here are the villains, a healthy proportion of those notes are devoted to them. Laying out who they are, where they come from, their motivations, their MO, how they fit into the setting, etc. etc. Most of the broad strokes generalities about them are set in stone at this point, but I'm always finagling with the details. Anyways, when I finally stepped back and looked at what I had written, one of the very first observations I made was "oh yeah, one of the first things these guys are gonna do is kill Genjuro and this is how they'd do it". So half the reason this was done is because it makes sense given who the villains are, what they want, the resources they are able and willing to use, etc. etc.

The other reason Genjuro was shot is because it throws open the door to some interesting plot points, particularly regarding Tsubasa, some of which will start to become apparent in chapter 3, that fit nicely with some of the themes I (hope I am) exploring in this story. Saying more would be spoiling, so I have to ask you to lend me some trust on this. I didn't kill Genjuro just to kill Genjuro.

And besides, if you think you are angry about Genjuro getting shot, just wait until you see Chris's reaction to the news next chapter!

Finally, the Pale Man (and yes, that is going to be his name for now) and his deal... well, I can't actually tell you his deal yet, because that wouldn't be any fun, but what I can say is that next chapter we actually get a tiny sliver of insight into his actual character. Because he isn't just presence to spook the adaptors out.


End file.
